Welcome to what we hope will grow into a substantial archive of papers on Missouri folklore, folklife and related topics. The object of this collection is to provide electronic access for projects of interest to those who study traditions – and those of Missouri and its residents in particular. We are primarily interested in documenting little-known or endangered lore. The standards are not those of a peer-reviewed scholarly journal, but posting will be at the sole discretion of the editor, who reserves the right to edit for content, style and format. Contributions should be sent as email attachmentsin MS Word format (.doc) or as ASCII files (.txt). Please include a very brief abstract describing your paper to be used on the index page.

Educators are particularly encouraged to alert students to this opportunity.

Authors retain all rights to the work which appears on the site.

For students: here’s an example of the proper form ofdocumentation in MLA format for articles appearing on this page:

Brandon Eyechaner. Memes and Humor: A Linguistic Analysis. Truman State grad applies Incongruity Resolution theory, among other tools, to account for the internet-specific folk-humor form of graphic memes. Posted 1-23-14.

Donald Lance. “The Pronunciation of Missouri” The late dean of dialectologists gives the definitive answer to the eternal question of how our state’s name is, and has been pronounced. For linguists. Posted 2-4-05

Dylan Pyles. Red Flame Records and Early Independent Rock Music. One of the untold stories of the early days of this American genre is the little local labels, like Red Flame in Kirksville, which flared briefly in the early 60s. A Truman State student provides an oral history.

Lida Pyles. It Happened in the Ozarks. Dylan Pyles, grandson of this Missouri folklorist, has generously agreed to make this rare book available online via the Missouri Folklore Society. Dylan has also provided a brief biography of his grandmother.